More Shocking Video Out of Ukraine Showing the Brutality of Putin’s War: Video footage shows recent Russian artillery strikes against a residential area in Donetsk Oblast, an eastern region in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin declared “independent” upon announcing his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The video clip, shared on Telegram by an account named “Its Donetsk,” was recorded at night time and shows flashes of light in the distance as the rockets are launched at Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut. The footage appears to have been recorded on a smart phone and was accompanied by a caption – written in Russian – confirming that the strikes were directed at Bakhmut and Artemovsk.
Analyst Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, noted on Twitter that the heavy Russian MLRS fire took place on the night of July 12.
“Heavy Russian MLRS fire on Bakhmut tonight,” he said in a tweet, accompanied by additional video footage showing more strikes.
The second round of footage was also shared on Telegram, this time by an account titled “Typical Donetsk.”
Strikes Follow Recent Casualties In Bakhmut District, Ukraine
The strikes follow a series of other missile strikes on civilian infrastructure in the Bakhmut district.
Ukrinform reported on July 10 how casualties were reported in the region after Russian forces shelled the area, striking small homes and other residential buildings.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, also noted on Telegram how Bakhmut has become one of the most dangerous areas in the region as Russian forces continue to work towards taking control of the entirety of Donetsk Oblast.
Video of Russian strikes in Bakhmut. https://t.co/519rlNpnfd pic.twitter.com/2QbJaV3cBx
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) July 12, 2022
Kyrylenko issued a statement along with several photographs showing destroyed homes still on fire, apartment blocks and offices on fire, and huge craters in the ground from Russian strikes.
“The operational situation in the region as of the evening of July 10. The hottest is in the Bakhmut district,” the statement reads, adding that a shop and a house were damaged by a rocket attack.
“Soledar was shelled twice today: at night and in the evening. As a result of the night shelling, the cultural center and the administrative building burned down, and the five-story building was damaged as a result of the evening shelling,” he continued, adding that in just one day, three people had been injured across the city.
Heavy Russian MLRS fire on Bakhmut tonight. 2/https://t.co/xMfaLOmSsg pic.twitter.com/l0ow1q34Ga
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) July 12, 2022
Kyrylenko also revealed how a high-rise building was damaged, and a wheat field was started in the Illinivska community as a result of the artillery shelling.
The regional leader warned that all attacks against civilians in the region were being recorded, and that “no one will escape punishment.”
Russia’s TOS-1 Thermobaric MLRS.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
